


Tied Together

by andrea_deer



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Monica POV, POV Second Person, Platonic Soulmates, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-15
Updated: 2015-08-15
Packaged: 2018-04-14 20:56:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4579764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andrea_deer/pseuds/andrea_deer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Still, when you see that one of your strings connects you to John Doggett, it feels different. Maybe it's wishful thinking, maybe it's intuition, but you know straight away that this one is more important than the thin string connecting you with Clark Gunning, who will run into you again sooner or later, and nothing will ever come out of it except for a few minute of awkward conversation.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tied Together

**Author's Note:**

  * For [galfridian](https://archiveofourown.org/users/galfridian/gifts).



If anyone were to ask you, what your favorite supernatural phenomena or belief is, you'd probably never mention soulmates. It would surely just gain you some dubious looks from most of the people. Very few would understand and you most likely wouldn't feel like getting into the details with most of them. Perhaps Mulder would understand? You’ve read one of his files on the subject and he could be the best person for such conversation, but then again, it has never came up and you never felt the need to initiate the discussion yourself.  
  
And, to be fair, soulmates aren’t actually all that fascinating. They’re a sure thing to you, they always were. It’s just one of the facts of life. You just know that some people are tied together and will stay that way. Falling into each other's path over and over again.  
  
You know it's not about romance. Not even about love. You’ve learned that the hard way.  
  
It’s not even about being needed in the life of another. Simply about being tied, for better or worse, to another person.  
  
You know those things exist, because you can see them. Tiny strings, like thin rays of light connecting people. It's not influenced by their relation to one another or anything else in their lives. Some of the most well-matched couples you know never had those, when some vague acquaintances do, and keep wondering why they never manage to shake this one barely-know-them person from their life.  
  
Of course, when you first saw the strings you did think it’s just a way to tie you to your romantic soulmate. You didn’t question having four strings, you didn’t question anything. You just asked the boy out, dated him, and cried your eyes out when he broke your heart.  
  
You were fifteen and your mother tried to be supportive in the face of the teenage drama and shouts of _"but he was my soulmate!"_.  
  
Because he was. Just never in that sense. You still keep on running into him sometimes and you gave up hope that you will ever get rid of him completely long ago. You bump into him in a coffee shop or at the bank once every year or two. It's just how these things go.  
  
You’ve learned early that it was not about romance at all, and eventually accepted it’s not about anything really. That’s why you don't assume Mulder and Scully are involved. They certainly might be, but the strong, bright string connecting them is no proof one way or the other. They both have more than one and Mulder is pretty much wrapped in his. It's hard to notice where one ends and another begins. They almost choke him sometimes and you don't doubt they aren't all friendly.  
  
Still, when you see that one of your strings connects you to John Doggett, it feels different. Maybe it's wishful thinking, maybe it's intuition, but you know straight away that this one is more important than the thin string connecting you with Clark Gunning, who will run into you again sooner or later, and nothing will ever come out of it except for a few minute of awkward conversation.  
  
When you meet John there's no way to investigate your connection and it doesn't even cross your mind to try. There’s no rush, after all, and you know that. You will meet him again.  
  
And you do, eventually. You get closer and you know that this time you were right, but he is not ready yet. He is broken and bitter and can't open up to anyone just yet. Not even to you. It's perfectly fine, you can wait. You can be patient when it's worth it. More or less gracefully, but you can wait. Especially since you have the visual proof that he is never falling too far away from you. That you are connected.  
  
When you're driving through the desert, many years after seeing him for the first time, you wonder about the insanity of it all. You're running away from god knows what, hoping for some sort of yet unspecified salvation from yet unknown source. Aliens are going to take over the world in a few years, you think rather panicked, and you want to laugh hysterically. You're shocked John is taking it so well. You thought it was shock, but you've been running for weeks now and he's still methodical and calm. You think it's the power of focusing on keeping both of you safe. You need to lie low for now.  
  
And it's all still surreal, regardless of what you've both been through. It still feels unreal, but he is with you and that somehow makes it bearable. More normal. After all, he was supposed to stay nearby, wasn’t he? That's the whole point of being tied together.  
  
You enter some forsaken gas station, far from any other signs of civilization, in the middle of a desert. Your hair is cut short, to make you look different, slightly less recognizable. You’re not sure if someone is looking for you specifically, but you’re not taking any chances. John is waiting in the car, ready to run off the moment the potential trouble might start. Somehow you know it won't. Your intuition kicks in and even though you know the hideout is necessary, you also think it will all be alright. Maybe it's your intuition, maybe it's just wishful thinking.  
You buy some food and plenty of water. The cashier rings you up, looking so bored he might be wishing you to be some kind of an escaped convict, so his day would stop being so painfully uneventful.  
  
"I'll be damned!" you hear from behind you and you almost jump out of your skin. "Monica Reyes!"  
  
You turn and, sure enough, there's Clark Gunning, along with his partner and three children gathered between them. They all look sunburned, terribly tired and almost melting in their comfortable t-shirts that are advertising some attractions from the city a few hours away. Must be a family trip, ‘and yet another mind-blowing coincidence’, you think, and smile at them politely.  
  
"What on Earth are you doing here?" Clark asks and for a moment you think you’re tired and hysterical enough to answer honestly.  
  
_"I'm hiding from a secret government, actual government and possibly aliens, you?"_  
  
You bite on your smile and sober up a bit:  
  
"Just taking a trip with a friend. We had a though case and wanted to run from the civilization for a bit."  
  
"Wise move," says Clark and looks out of the window trying to take a closer look at your car. "A friend, huh?"  
  
"Partner," you correct quickly, unsure why, really.  
  
"As in yet-unmarried or rather working-together sort of partnership?" Clark smirks and you reply with a smile of your own, without admitting to anything verbally. His smile widens. "Or a bit of both?"  
  
His partner laughs, shaking his head.  
  
"Leave the girl alone, it's bad enough you unconsciously stalk her all the time."  
  
"True," you agree quickly, jumping in to change the subject. “If I didn't know any better, I'd file a harassment suit."  
  
"But we are soulmates!" mocks Carl with an overdramatic pout.  
  
His partner laughs and then catches one of their sons, as he wandered off. The kid falls back, leaning against his father, obviously too hot and too tired to try to cause any serious trouble.  
  
"I will punch you," you warn with a grin. Did he have to bring it up every time you’ve met? At least now it got bearable, when he was so sickeningly domestic with Mathew, and not just treating it as another joke to tell his boyfriend of the moment. At least now it was a short joke and not a full re-telling of the whole embarrassment. "And I was trained to make it hurt."  
  
He laughs and you excuse yourself quickly, using the opportunity their exhaustion provides. You grab your bags and glances one more time at the cashier, hoping he’s not old-fashioned enough to cause the boys some trouble. He seems to be too far in his boredom coma to care about much anything and you shrug it off as random bit of over-protectiveness brought up by the danger you found yourself in.  
  
John looks anxious when you get back into the car and in a way it’s reassuring. If you’re going crazy due to stress, at least you’re not the only one.  
  
"Everything alright?"  
  
"Yes, I just run into an old friend."  
  
"Here?" he asks, incredulous, probably already planning some other route, since this one is obviously more common than he expected.  
  
"The world is small, John. And some people just keep on running into each other."  
He nods slowly.  
  
"Yeah, I guess. We sure tend to do that a lot," he says with a crooked smile, and you can’t help but answer in kind. "Sometimes it feels like it's the only thing that's not completely weird about all of this mess, you know? That we're stuck together in it."  
  
You smile warmly at him.  
  
"I know, John,” you assure him with more confidence than he probably expected. “I know."

**Author's Note:**

> This pairing turned out to be trickier than I anticipated. I hope you liked it though, I sure had fun thinking it up! :) 
> 
> All the thanks to my beta for making it way more readable than it used to be. :*


End file.
